#5: Russia
In the build-up to the war, Russia increased its military expenditure by 2.9 per cent in 2021, to $65.9 billion, marking the third consecutive year of growth. Its military spending was 4.1 per cent of the GDP. Russia’s ‘national defence’ budget line that accounts for three-quarters of the country’s total military spending was 14 per cent higher at $48.4 billion than what was budgeted at the end of 2020.